Fiona said:
"Action for Children state that 140,000 children affected by domestic violence, parental drug abuse and neglect are not getting help to prevent further harm. I am heartened that the Department for Education wants to do more to enable Councils to support them. A large group of Conservative MPs support the development of Family Hubs where good early years health and other services are co-located with voluntary sector and other help for parents with children across the age ranges. Councils like the Isle of Wight have transformed their Children's Centres into Hubs which support such families in need within current budgets, and other Local Authorities are slowly following suit. Government should speed up the creation of Family Hubs nationwide through a transformation fund to which aspiring pioneer Councils can apply. Last year as Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Children's Centres I led an Inquiry and Report recommending the transformation of Children's Centres into Family Hubs offering broader support to families , and on the basis that such support should be available to all , and normalised - no family goes through life without some challenges ! The problem is too big to allow the solution to be haphazard."
A link to Fiona's report is available below.